


No saving

by forabeatofadrum (maanorchidee)



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Gen, Speculation, Spoilers, The Bad Place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 18:04:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21275441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maanorchidee/pseuds/forabeatofadrum
Summary: What happens to a human being who seems incapable of being good? Are they worth saving, or does it stop at a certain time? The gang is about to find out.





	No saving

**Author's Note:**

> _  
**SPOILERS FOR THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE GOOD PLACE.**  
_
> 
> This story isn’t really a reaction, but it isn’t a speculation fanfic either. I just couldn’t help but wonder what will happen with Brent, since it seems like there’s no saving possible. Is it possible for a human to still go to the Bad Place? And if so, would that feel righteous?
> 
> That’s kind of what I wanted to explore here. Hope you enjoy.

When Michael returns from setting Bad Janet free, he’s surprised by the sudden sullen mood. The humans don’t look happy. Janet is also looking conflicted.

“Did something happen?” Michael immediately asks.

Eleanor nods and Michael notices a letter on the desk. That wasn’t there before.

“Judge Gen sent us a letter. Apparently, the Bad Place has been tampering again.”

“What? No!” 

Does this mean that the judge is going to shut down the experiment?

Tahani must’ve seen the worried look on his face, because she says: “Basically, the cheating wasn’t the worst, so the judge is willing to compromise. The Bad Place has to undo the tampering immediately.”

Michael laughs bitterly. “As if.”

“Sadly, I think they are going to do it,” Janet says.

“Well, isn’t that a good thing then?” Michael asks, although he doesn’t fully understand why Shawn would just obey the rules out of nowhere.

Eleanor hands Michael the letter. It’s fairly short, so Michael doesn’t need a lot of time to read it. 

“They brought in another mistake and now we willingly have to let them go to the Bad Place?” he asks, horrified.

“Shawn would never pass the opportunity to torture a human,” Janet sighs.

Michael reads the letter again. “From all people… him?”

“It makes sense,” Jason says absently, “Homie’s supes rude to everyone. Like, he doesn’t know I can talk, but I’ve been shooting him really mean looks.”

“We gotta stop this,” Tahani says.

“Should we?” Eleanor interjects, “Jason is right. It makes a lot of sense.”

“Trust me, I want him gone, but is this the right way to go?” Tahani asks Eleanor.

Janet nods in agreement. “I agree with Tahani. I hate him, but do we want to let the demons torture him for the rest of his afterlife? Torture is not fun, guys.”

Eleanor sighs. Michael was once in her position. Once, he was the person who decided the fate of many. 

“But if we disagree, Judge Gen might disband the experiment,” Jason points out, “Which is not cool. Chidi and I are having fun, yo.”

“Tahani, Janet, we also have to think about what Simone said. At one point, it might stop being our responsibility,” Michael adds.

“Michael, you know what it’s like in the Bad Place,” Janet interjects, “You did the torturing once!”

“I am aware of what I am saying, Janet,” Michael says. He looks at Eleanor, who looks downright conflicted. “I am making the decision, so that others don’t have to.”

“We will all be part of it, though,” Eleanor points out.

“Although, Michael is right. Simone is right,” Tahani sighs, “But it’s torture…”

“I think that it has to be done, for the experiment’s sake,” Michael says. Tahani seems to slowly agree as well. Only Janet still looks incredibly conflicted.

“If only Chidi were here. It feels like the trolley problem all over again,” Eleanor says, “Damn those forking ethics.”

“We have to do it, Eleanor.”

Eleanor nods sadly.

* * *

Brent pours himself a glass of red wine. It’s been an exhausting day. He still can’t believe that the other people in the neighbourhood turned on him so quickly.

Him? Racist? He can’t be racist. His father’s servant was black and Brent’s always treated him well, since he was great at his job.

Or him, sexist? Why can’t Tahani see that appreciating her huge boobs is the greatest compliment a man can give a woman? 

How dare the others attack him like that? It’s not their fault that they felt offended. And then Chad even had the audacity to attack him physically. 

“What a PC bullshirt, even in heaven,” he mutters in his glass. He’d hoped that the Good Place knew how to get rid of those snowflake liberals.

He needs to go golfing immediately. He needs some stress relief. He’s about to call Janet for a new golfclub, and maybe a sandwich, when suddenly, Brent hears a pop.

Janet is standing in front of him.

“Ah, Janet, thank God!” he lets out a laugh of relief, “After today, I’m glad that my secretary knows what to do. Can you give me a brand new golf club? Also, a sandwich with shredded beef? And when we’re on it, be a doll and-”

“No,” Janet cuts him off.

Brent blinks in surprise. Janet has never resisted him. She can’t. She’s there to serve him. What else is a girl like Janet supposed to do? Brent’s so shocked by the amount of disrespect that he’s speechless.

“No, Brent, I can’t do that. I no longer exist to help you,” Janet says and, well, she sounds a bit sad? That’s interesting.

Then again, maybe Brent can get an update. Janet was a bit boring.

But then, Janet snaps her fingers and vines start to grow out of the ground. “How is this possible? My mansion has a concrete floor!”

Brent drops the glass of wine. Shards go flying. Well, at least Janet can clean that up for him, after she releases him from these vines.

The vines close around his ankles and wrists. Brent tries to break free, but it’s impossible.

“Janet, I order you to stop-”

But Janet sighs. “Believe me when I say that I am truly sorry for this.”

The house seems to rotate around them. Brent closes his eyes to avoid getting sick. After a while, he smells something weird.

He opens his eyes. They’re in a black void. Janet is joined by Michael and another man. He’s white, middle aged, a bit on the ginger side, and he has a friendly grin on his face.

“What the fuck is this!” Brent yells out.

“Ah, swearing,” the man says happily, and he closes his eyes and looks delighted, “I am looking forward to hearing you scream repeatedly.”

“Brent, meet Shawn,” Michael motions towards Shawn, “He’s the head demon of the Bad Place.”

Okay. Cool. What is the point of this?

“Can’t we just go back to my house and let Janet make me a sandwich?” Brent asks, and Shawn claps his hands in delight.

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Shawn says and the grin on his face widens, “You’ll do perfectly when I take you with me to the Bad Place.” 

The Bad Place? No, that can’t be right. Brent is amazing. He’s a great guy. He even belongs in the Best Place. That blond ditzy architect even said so.

“Man, you can’t take me there. I’m from the Good Place. I got there with a reason!”

“Exactly,” Shawn says and the grin becomes even wider. For the first time in his life, Brent has a bad feeling about this. “You got into the Good Place thanks to us, but truly, you’ve always belonged to the Bad Place. We just wanted to mess with those goodie two-shoes in the Good Place-”

“We’re right here, you know?” Michael sighs.

“Shove it up your gigantic flaming ass, Michael,” Shawn says in a monotone voice, “Anyway, we wanted those crapholes to suffer and when you died and we saw your absolute horrible personality, we knew you’d be just right for the job.”

“Excuse me!” Brent yells out, “I am a good man.”

“Your ignorance is one of the things that I’ve enjoyed most,” Shawn sighs happily, “You are so self-centered. You believe you’re right in every way, and when people point out that you’re wrong, you victimise yourself. It’s wonderful to watch. But now it is time to go home, don’t you think?”

“I don’t belong to the Bad Place. I am the best. Michael even told me so! I belong to the Best Place. They victimised themselves by being too damn sensitive.”

“Your stupidity is another thing that I throroughly enjoyed,” Shawn says, “You are so willing to believe that everything is about you. Your stupidity fueled by your arrogance is like pig’s blood on human liver, the Bad Place’s finest dessert. I can’t wait for you to try it.”

Suddenly, another woman appears. She’s on her phone.

“Bad Janet, take him.”

The woman doesn’t look up from her phone, but she snaps her fingers anyway and the vines start to drag Brent down. It’s a black void, but he watches as he starts to disappear into the darkness.

“No! No, you can’t do this!”

Shawn laughs maliciously. “No worries, you’ll be able to see your father and grandfather again. Or at least, what’s left of them.”

Brent tries to fight the vines and he reaches out to Janet and Michael, who watch him with pity. “Help me! You can’t let them do this to me!”

But Janet and Michael continue to stare at him with pity. Brent’s head is all that there’s left of him. Shawns keeps on laughing in the background.

“Oh Brent,” Michael says, and he almost sounds sorry, “We tried. We truly did. But you refused to change, even when you were given many opportunities, so in the end, you only have yourself to blame.”

Brent’s eyes widen when the realisation hits him. The last thing he sees is Janet looking away. Then, it’s all black.


End file.
